The guys from moe. don't seem too racked with self-doubt. In the first sentence of their new press biography, the New York foursome refers to itself as "America's best live rock band."

"Geez, that sounds pretty cocky to me," says singer-guitarist Al Schnier, apparently hearing this description for the first time. "That would be a pretty hard thing for anybody to live up to, I think. Well, we certainly try."

OK, so the guys probably didn't write the bio themselves. Still, many feel the description fits. Like the Grateful Dead and Widespread Panic before it, this jam-rock band has developed a rabid fan base, with many people following moe. from town to town.

"It was really kinda weird at first," Schnier says. "It takes a while to get used to it, you know? People wanting your autograph after a show, and people setting up their own fan Web sites -- all that kind of stuff. There are people going crazy about seeing our band and really going out of their way, driving 12 hours to come and see us and stuff.

"I would have done that to go see the Dead. I don't know if I'd do that to come see us."

Still, despite the popularity, even Schnier is stumped when asked to describe the band's sound.

"It's really difficult," he says. "There's definitely a loose, psychedelic element to it, but at the same time, we have more of an edge than most of the stuff that gets lumped together in that genre. Our music can be a little bit more aggressive at times. Someone once described us as the Grateful Dead on crack."

Though moe.'s relentless touring has brought it through Athens before, Schnier promises the audience will not hear a rehash of its previous gigs.

"We do our best to play a different show every night," he says. "We try not to repeat any songs from the night before, or the night before that. We even have a set list file we bring with us on the road and try to avoid playing the same songs we played in that town the last time we were there. We try and keep it that way so every time people come and see us, it will be a new experience."

That audience-friendly mind-set is likely a big part of the band's increasing popularity. Last year, moe. played in front of 40,000 people at Woodstock '99 and had solo gigs at Los Angeles' House of Blues and San Francisco's Fillmore Auditorium, among other large venues. And Rolling Stone named moe.'s latest album, "Tin Cans & Car Tires," one of the "Albums That Mattered in 1998."

"That was great," Schnier says of the Rolling Stone designation. "I remember when that came out. We were on the same page as Elvis Costello, who is one of my heroes, and Willie Nelson. It was definitely unexpected. We had no idea until it came out."

Now, moe. is trying to follow that success with another studio album, currently being recorded. But next up is "L," a two-CD live album hitting stores April 11. It's an obvious release for "America's best live rock band."